<h2>When and Why Revealed?</h2>
<p>
The subject matter of this Surah indicates that it was revealed during
the last stage of the Holy Prophet's residence at Makkah, when the
Quraish were considering the question of killing or exiling or
imprisoning him. At that time some of the unbelievers put this
question (probably at the instigation of the Jews) to test him :"Why
did the Israelites go to Egypt?" This question was asked because they
knew that their story was not known to the Arabs for there was no
mention of it whatever in their traditions and the Holy Prophet had
never even referred to it before. Therefore they expected that he
would not be able to give any satisfactory answer to this question or
would first evade it, and afterwards try to enquire about it from some
Jew, and thus he would be totally exposed. But, contrary to their
expectations, the tables were turned on them, for Allah revealed the
whole story of Prophet Joseph then and there, and the Holy Prophet
recited it on the spot. This put the Quraish in a very awkward
position because it not only foiled their scheme but also administered
a warning to them by aptly applying it to their case, as if to say,
"As you are behaving towards this Prophet, exactly in the same way the
brothers of Prophet Joseph behaved towards him; so you shall meet with
the same end."
</p>
<h2>Objects of Revelation</h2>
<p>
From the above it is clear that this Surah was sent down for two
objects: 
</p>
<p>
The first object was to give the proof of the Prophethood of
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him), and that too, the one demanded
by the opponents themselves so as to prove conclusively that his
knowledge was not based on mere hearsay, but was gained through
Revelation. This aspect has been stated explicitly in its introductory
verses and explained plainly in its concluding portion. 
</p>
<p>
The second
object was to apply it to the Quraish and warn them that ultimately
the conflict between them and the Holy Prophet would end in his
victory over them. As they were then persecuting their brother, the
Holy Prophet, in the same way the brothers of Prophet Joseph had
treated him. The Quraish were told indirectly that they would also
fail in their evil designs just as the brothers of Prophet Joseph had
failed in his case, even after casting him into the well. This is
because none has the power to defeat the Divine will. And just as the
brothers of Prophet Joseph had to humble themselves before him, so one
day the Quraish shall have to beg forgiveness from their brother whom
they were then trying to crush down. This, too, has been made quite
plain in v. 7: "Indeed there are signs in this story of Joseph and his
brothers for these inquirers from among the Quraish." 
</p>
<p>
The fact is that
by applying this story to the conflict, the Quran had made a bold and
clear prophecy, which was fulfilled literally by the events that
happened in the succeeding ten years. Hardly two years had passed
after its revelation, when the Quraish conspired to kill the Holy
Prophet like the brothers of Prophet Joseph, and he had to emigrate
from Makkah to Al-Madinah, where he gained the same kind of power as
Prophet Joseph had gained in Egypt. Again, in the end the Quraish had
to humble themselves before him just like the brothers of Prophet
Joseph, when they humbly requested, "Show mercy to us for Allah
rewards richly those who show mercy" (V. 88), and Prophet Joseph
generously forgave them, (though he had complete power to wreak
vengeance on them,) saying, " today no penalty shall be inflicted on
you. May Allah forgive you:He is the greatest of all those who
forgive" (V. 92). The same story of mercy was repeated, when after the
conquest of Makkah, the crest fallen Quraish stood meekly before the
Holy Prophet, who had full power to wreak his vengeance on them for
each and every cruelty committed by them. But instead, he merely asked
them, "What treatment do you expect from me now?" They replied, "You
are a generous brother and the son of a generous brother." At this, he
very generously forgave them, saying, "I will give the same answer to
your request that Joseph gave to his brothers: '. . . today, no
penalty shall be inflicted on you: you are forgiven."
</p>
<h2>Topics of Discussion</h2>
<p>
Moreover, the Quran does not relate this story as a mere narrative but
uses it, as usual, for the propagation of the Message in the following
ways:-
</p>
<p>
Throughout the narrative the Quran has made it clear that the
Faith of Prophets Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph (Allah's peace be
upon them all) was the same as that of Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace
be upon him) and they invited the people to the same Message to which
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) was inviting them. 
</p>
<p>
Then it places
the characters of Prophet Jacob and Prophet Joseph side by side with
the characters of the brothers of Joseph, the members of the trade
caravan, the court dignitary; Al Aziz of Egypt and his wife, the
"ladies" of Egypt and the rulers of Egypt and poses a silent question
to the reader, as if to say, "Contrast the former characters moulded
by Islam on the bedrock of the worship of Allah and accountability in
the Hereafter with the latter moulded by <em>kufr</em> and "ignorance" on the
worship of the world and disregard of Allah and the Hereafter, and
decide for yourselves which of these two patterns you would choose."
</p>
<p>
The Quran has used this story to bring forth another truth: whatever
Allah wills, He fulfills it anyhow, and man can never defeat His plan
with his counterplans nor prevent it from happening nor change it in
any way whatever. Nay, it often so happens that man adopts some
measure to fulfill his own design and believes that he has done that
very thing which would fulfill his design, but in the end he finds to
his dismay that he had done something which was against his own and
conducive to the Divine purpose. When the brothers of Prophet Joseph
cast him into the well, they believed that they had once for all got
rid of the obstacle in their way but in fact, they had paved the way
for the Divine purpose of making him the ruler of Egypt, before whom
they would have to humble themselves in the end. Likewise, the wife of
Aziz had sent Prophet Joseph to the prison, floating over the thought
that she had wreaked her vengeance on him, but, in fact, she had
provided for him the opportunity for becoming the ruler of Egypt and
for putting herself to the shame of confessing her own sin publicly.
</p>
<p>
And these are not the solitary instances which prove the truth that
even if the whole world united to bring about the down fall of the one
whom Allah willed to raise high, it could not succeed. Nay, the very
"sure and effective" measures that were adopted by the brothers to
degrade Joseph were used by Allah for the success of Joseph and for
the humiliation and disgrace of his brothers. On the other hand, if
Allah willed the fall of one, no measure, howsoever effective, could
raise him high : nay, it helped to bring about his fall and the
disgrace of those who adopted them. 
</p>
<p>
Moreover, the story contains other
lessons for those who intend to follow the way of Allah. The first
lesson it teaches is that one should remain within the limits,
prescribed by the Divine Law, in one's aims and objects and measures,
for success and failure are entirely in the hands of Allah. Therefore
if one adopts pure aims and lawful measures but fails, at least one
will escape ignominy and disgrace. On the other hand, the one who
adopts an impure aim and unlawful measures to achieve it, shall not
only inevitably meet with ignominy and disgrace in the Hereafter, but
also runs the risk of ignominy and disgrace in this world. 
</p>
<p>
The second
lesson it teaches is that those who exert for the cause of truth and
righteousness and put their trust in Allah and entrust all their
affairs to Him, get consolation and comfort from Him, for this helps
them face their opponents with confidence and courage and they do not
lose heart, when they encounter the apparently terrifying measures of
the powerful enemies. They will persevere in their task without fear
and leave the results to Allah. 
</p>
<p>
But the greatest lesson this story
teaches is that if the Believer possesses true Islamic character and
is endowed with wisdom, he can conquer a whole country with the
strength of his character alone. The marvelous example of Prophet
Joseph teaches us that a man of high and pure character comes out
successful even under the most adverse circumstances. When Prophet
Joseph went to Egypt, he was only a lad of seventeen years, a
foreigner, all alone and without any provisions; nay, he had been sold
there as a slave. And the horrible condition of the slaves during that
period is known to every student of history. Then he was charged with
a heinous moral Crime and sent to prison for an indefinite term. But
throughout this period of affliction, he evinced the highest moral
qualities which raised him to the highest rank in the country.
</p>
<h2>Historical and Geographical Background</h2>
<p>
The following historical and geographical details will help understand
the story:-
</p>
<p>
Prophet Joseph was a son of Prophet Jacob and a grandson of
Prophet Isaac and a great grandson of Prophet Abraham (Allah's peace
be upon them all). The Bible says (and the allusions in the Quran also
confirm this) that Prophet Jacob had twelve sons from four wives.
Prophet Joseph and his younger brother Benjamin were from one wife and
the other ten from the other wives. Prophet Jacob had settled at
Hebron (Palestine) where his father Prophet Isaac and before him
Prophet Abraham lived and owned a piece of land at Shechem as well.
</p>
<p>
According to the research scholars of the Bible, Prophet Joseph was
born in or about 906 B. C. and the incident with which this story
begins happened in or about 890 B. C. He was seventeen when he saw the
dream and was thrown into the well. This well was near Dothan to the
north of Shechem according to Biblical and Talmudic traditions, and
the caravan, which took him out of the well, was coming from Gilead
(Trans-Jordan), and was on its way to Egypt. 
</p>
<p>
At that time Fifteenth
Dynasty ruled over Egypt, whose rulers are known in history as the
Hyksos kings. They belonged to the Arab race, but had migrated from
Palestine and Syria to Egypt in or about 2000 B. C. and taken
possession of the country. The Arab historians and the commentators of
the Quran have given them the name of Amaliq (the Amalekites), and
this has been corroborated by the recent researches made by the
Egyptologists. They were foreign invaders who had got the opportunity
of establishing their kingdom because of the internal feuds in the
country. That is why there was no prejudice in the way of Prophet
Joseph's ascendancy to power and in the subsequent settlement of the
Children of Israel in the most fertile region of Egypt. They could
gain that power and influence which they did, because they belonged to
the same race as the foreign rulers of Egypt. 
</p>
<p>
The Hyksos ruled over
Egypt up to the end of the fifteenth century B. C., and practically
all the powers remained in the hands of the Israelites. The Quran has
made a reference to this in v. 20 of Al-Ma'idah: ..... He raised
Prophets among you and made you rulers. . ., Then there arose a great
nationalist movement which overthrew the power of this dynasty and
exiled 250,000 or so of the Amalekites. As a result of this, a very
bigoted dynasty of Copts came into power and uprooted everything
connected with the Amalekites. Then started that persecution of the
Israelites which has been mentioned in connection with the story of
Prophet Moses. 
</p>
<p>
We also learn from the history of Egypt that the
"Hyksos kings" did not acknowledge the gods of Egypt and, therefore,
had imported their own gods from Syria, with a view to spreading their
own religion in Egypt. This is the reason why the Quran has not called
the king who was the contemporary of Prophet Joseph by the title of
"Pharaoh," because this title was associated with the religion of the
original people of Egypt and the Hyksos did not believe in it, but the
Bible erroneously calls him "Pharaoh". It appears that the editors of
the Bible had the misunderstanding that all the kings of Egypt were
"Pharaohs." 
</p>
<p>
The modern research scholars who have made a comparative
study of the Bible and the Egyptian history are generally of the
opinion that Apophis was the Hyksos king, who was the contemporary of
Prophet Joseph. 
</p>
<p>
At that time Memphis was the capital of Egypt, whose
ruins are still found on the Nile at a distance of 4 miles south of
Cairo. When Prophet Joseph was taken there, he was 17 or 18 years old.
He remained in the house of Aziz for three years and spent nine years
in prison, and then became the ruler of the land at the age of thirty
and ruled over Egypt independently for eighty years. In the ninth or
tenth year of his rule he sent for his father, Prophet Jacob, to come
from Palestine to Egypt with all the members of his family and,
according to the Bible, settled them in the land of Goshen, where they
lived up to the time of Prophet Moses. The Bible says that before his
death, Prophet Joseph bound his kindred by an oath: "when you return
from this country to the house of your forefathers you must take my
bones out of this country with you. So he died a hundred and ten years
old, and they embalmed him . . ."
</p>
<p>
Though the story of Prophet Joseph as
given in the Quran differs very much in its details from that given in
the Bible and the Talmud, the Three generally agree in regard to its
component parts. We shall explain the differences, when and where
necessary, in our Explanatory Notes.
</p>

